Futuristics & Law Enforcement--The Millennium Conference

July 10 - 14, 2000

FBI Academy

Quantico, Virginia

 

 

Introduction

 

For the first time since 1991, a futures conference was held at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.  Entitled "Futuristics & Law Enforcement--The Millennium Conference," this event was attended by distinguished individuals with diverse backgrounds, including policing, academia, and literature.  The purpose of the conference was to take the first steps toward producing a vision for policing in the 21st century in five areas:  The Future of Technology and Its Effect on Law Enforcement;  The Future of Leadership and Management in Policing Agencies;  Future Crime/Future Law;  The Future of Policing Practices and Philosophies; and The Changing Face of America--Demographics and Policing.   The attendees examined possible futures for law enforcement and formulated strategies that police leaders will be able to employ to create the “preferred future” for their agencies and communities.

 

 

In order to accomplish the very ambitious goals of the conference, a modified Nominal Group/Delphi surveying process was employed.  Group members were asked to formulate possible future trends in their areas of interest.  Once these trends were formulated, group members anonymously voted on the likelihood that a particular trend would occur by a certain year as well as the impact that the trend would have on policing by that year. Multiple rounds of voting were conducted to allow participants to modify their opinions based upon the input of their peers.  The results of the conference appear below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attendees

 

Attendance at "Futuristics & Law Enforcement--The Millennium Conference" was by invitation only.  The desire of the conference organizers was to obtain a broad cross-section of opinion relating to the future of policing.  As such, participants of diverse backgrounds, both from inside and outside of law enforcement, were included.  All had distinguished themselves in their chosen professions.  As well, each had demonstrated a capacity to think creatively which all but guaranteed lively, thorough, and insightful discussions on all issues.  The attendees included:

 

Plenary Speakers:

 

Mr. Dennis Bushnell                                                Future Strategic Issues

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

 

Mr. Greg Bear                                                            Future Crime

Science Fiction Author

 

Dr. Gary Sykes                                                            Ethics in the 21st Century

Southwestern Law Enforcement

Institute

 

Chief Gordon Bass                                                            Management in the

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office                         21st Century

 

Ms. Tammany Mulder                                                Demographics in the

Bureau of the Census                                                Information Age

 

Mr. Joel Garreau                                                            Networks and Hierarchies

Washington Post

The Edge City Group